sinovels 67. Fleeing to Finland
67. Fleeing to Finland
It was early spring, and the ice and snow had not yet completely melted. An SUV with black tinted windows slowly drove toward the seaside near Green Mountain City.
"Just talk the same way you would when you meet, be natural."
Viktor helped Volkov secure the bugging device and straightened his clothes, making it completely undetectable from the outside; it looked perfect.
Volkov's condition is not quite right.
"Don't tremble."
"I wasn't trembling," Volkov said, his lips turning white with nervousness.
"Look at me." Victor placed his hands on Volkov's shoulders, their eyes met, and he reassured him, "It's very simple. As long as Li Xiang hands over the money to you, your mission is accomplished, and we'll go and arrest him immediately."
"He has the Tambov Gang behind him. I have a family to support, and I can't afford to offend them. Please help me out, or you should find someone else." Volkov's voice was trembling.
Victor glared at him and snapped, "What time is it and you're still backing down?"
"Boss, is he alright? Something doesn't look right."
Volkov, as if he had found a savior, hurriedly said, "Let's do it another day. There's only one chance. Give me some more time to adjust."
Victor sighed and said, "It's all the same now, whether it works or not. As long as Li Xiang brought money with him, even if he didn't hand it over to Volkov, it's still preliminary evidence, so it wasn't a complete waste of time."
"We've arrived. That should be Li Xiang by the sea."
"Try the headphones one last time, hey, hey," Victor reminded Volkov. "Be careful with the angle, face Li Xiang with your left cheek, don't let him see your headphones."
After getting out of the car, Volkov, carrying his fishing gear, walked cautiously toward where Li Xiang was.
Before he even reached the beach, a speedboat suddenly appeared on the horizon. As the speedboat drew closer and closer and hurtled straight toward him, Volkov instinctively froze on the spot.
-
in the car.
"A speedboat has arrived."
"Who would go out to sea in this cold weather? Besides, the coast here is all rocky. If you want to have fun, go to the Gold Coast. Why come here?"
"Volkov, can you hear me? Stop daydreaming and get to the contact point."
-
Volkov glanced at "Li Xiang" and found that Li Xiang hadn't come at all; the person sitting there fishing was Li Xiang's bodyguard, Big Foot.
Wearing a hat and a down jacket, they were not clearly visible from a distance.
The body shape is completely different when viewed up close.
As Volkov looked at Bigfoot, Bigfoot also turned to look at him.
He tilted his chin to the side, gesturing for Volkov to look at the sea.
Volkov understood immediately, his eyes fixed intently on the speedboat, which stopped near the shore, as if waiting for someone.
This further solidified his judgment.
After a moment's struggle, Volkov threw away the earpiece and the bug on his body, and ran straight into the sea.
Even the icy cold of the seawater couldn't stop him from fleeing for his life.
Offending the Tambov gang means death, not cooperating with the investigation team means jail time. It's a choice between two evils...
Volkov chose to run away!
-
in the car.
"Boss, the speedboat is here to pick him up, but he's trying to escape!"
"No wonder they arranged to meet here; it only takes two hours by speedboat to Finland from here!"
"Chase!"
Seeing his underlings about to get out of the car and chase after them, Victor cursed and said, "Chase my ass! If you can swim across the speedboat, then go ahead and chase."
"He's been so scared these past few days, he's been having sleepless nights. If he was planning to run away early on, then he's really putting on a convincing act."
"This ship must have been arranged for him by Li Xiang."
"We handled all the communications. How did he and Li Xiang manage to coordinate the code?"
"Boss, should we take Li Xiang back and question him?"
Victor said irritably, "What should I ask? Why did he come out fishing? Or why did a speedboat come out to sea?"
"Then we've worked for nothing again."
"Stop talking nonsense. Did I shortchange you a penny of your salary? Hurry up and get on the bus. We still have to write a report when we get back. How embarrassing." Ever since Peter was released on parole, Viktor has been having second thoughts about investigating the Ivanov family.
No matter how cunning the opponent is, you can defeat them with just one mistake. The real danger is hitting a brick wall. With only a meager monthly salary, why risk your life?
How did Volkov and Li Xiang manage to exchange the secret code?
Is there even a question?
There must be a mole inside!
-
Galina was driving a beat-up Toyota, and Li Xiang was sitting in the passenger seat.
"They're here to arrest you, but you insist on coming to see the scene."
Galina followed behind the investigation team's SUV.
"The windows are all tinted black, should we overtake and catch up?"
"Need not."
Li Xiang activated [Deep Scan], and with a theoretical distance of 25 meters, he easily obtained information about the [hostile figures] inside the SUV.
Li Xiang had no inside contacts in the investigation team; he just felt that Volkov's behavior of soliciting bribes from him was very unusual.
Combined with Volkov's bizarre "disappearance," with even his wife and children unaware of his whereabouts, it was only natural that they would make contact with him; this was a setup.
Galina got involved because she was the one who arranged the speedboat.
Regardless of whether Volkov chooses to flee, Li Xiang is not prepared to show up today. He made a special trip to retrieve information.
Everyone has secrets, and Victor and his investigation team are no exception.
Due to his level restrictions, Li Xiang cannot view all "privacy" information. However, he generally does not have a high level of authority to view secrets that are publicly known among his colleagues or secrets that only involve others and are not his own.
-
The northern shore of the Gulf of Finland.
A lighthouse hut by the sea.
Volkov arrived in Finland smuggledly around 3 p.m., and it was almost dark; he was still in a daze.
The person who brought him here has already left, and he's been told to wait here by himself.
The weather was still cold, and Volkov, soaked from head to toe in seawater and having spent more than two hours in the sea breeze on the speedboat, was running a high fever.
The tower keeper only spoke Finnish, and communication relied entirely on gestures, but he was given food and fever reducers.
Volkov wanted to call home to let them know he was safe, but he didn't dare.
He was waiting for Li Xiang to contact him first.
Instead, I received a call from a woman.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Dalia. You can't go back to Russia. If you're willing to come with me, I can bring you to Germany."
"I'd be willing to go to Germany, but to come with you..." Volkov carefully declined, "I've worked in customs for almost twenty years, and I don't know anything else besides customs."
"Why don't you bring me to Germany? How much money will that cost? I'll try to get my family to send it to you."
Talented people are rare; you could hear the joy in Dalia's voice even over the phone.
"Mr. Volkov, I sincerely hope you can join my team. What I do is exactly what you specialize in."
Volkov confirmed, "Are you in the import/export business?"
"I'm a smuggler!"
Fearing Volkov would refuse, Dalia immediately threatened, "Don't worry about things at home. Once this crisis passes, I'll definitely find a way to bring them to Germany so your family can be reunited."
Yes, that's a threat! It's just expressed in a more subtle way.